Autodesk Senior VP, Chris Bradshaw on stage.
The last time I went to an Autodesk University (AU) event, it was a chilly November in Las Vegas with overexposure to the Sands Expo’s air conditioning and turkey croissants. Fast forward to today and I’m in London as the software company brings its flagship event to the UK capital for the first time on a week that just happens to be the hottest that I can recall on UK soil, making the brain-frazzling talk of machine learning, that little bit more frazzling.
As the sun beamed on Tobacco Dock, a great venue for an event like this, which welcomed over 1,000 delegates this week, Autodesk C-level executives, users and partners have come together to talk about the future of making things.
Getting the week off to an interesting start, news broke that the Autodesk board has appointed Andrew Anagnost as its new President and CEO. Andrew wasn’t able to attend but I spoke with him over Skype during the event and he said he believes “the future is moving towards multi-purpose, programmable, automated factories” citing how he’s excited about both the technical and social challenges that will follow these intelligent, hybrid, robotic-led factories.
As is customary with AU, a live DJ (at 9am, mind you) sound-tracked our way to the Main Stage where Autodesk Vice President, Ian Mitchell opened the morning keynote, with a quick crowd metal arithmetic, magic trick. Apparently if by the end of the trick you had “grey elephants in Denmark” on the brain, you were one of the smart ones in the audience (happy to report I was in that 50%).
Then Autodesk Senior VP, Chris Bradshaw announced his love of James Bond. “There is nothing more British than James Bond”, he said and spoke about the UK’s influence on design from the red telephone box to the steam engine. He introduced Autodesk customer, Foster + Partners who said they’re “constantly striving to change the paradigm of design” discussing its recent New Mexico airport design that is designed as a single flowing piece, taking into consideration various environmental constraints - nothing major, just a volcano. This was followed by a presentation from Mike Haley, Machine Intelligence leader at Autodesk who talked about completely mind-boggling possibilities of machine learning on the factory floor. He used the example of Autodesk robots, Bishop and Ash, who have been taught how to perform complex tasks and even recognise the humans around them. As someone whose favourite movie for a spell as a child was Steven Spielberg’s Artificial Intelligence, this both excites and terrifies me. But overall, very cool stuff and I could have happily sat and listened to Mike talk all day.
Then I went to a presentation from Dr. Simon Leigh at the University of Warwick who heads up the university’s Digital & Material Technologies Lab. There’s a lot going on at the lab in terms of 3D printing but this talk centred on a project that has utilised additive manufacturing, electronics and systems engineering to create a 2.2m wingspan UAV that was on display at the event. I caught up with two engineers who worked on the project after the talk, which you can read more about tomorrow in my International Women in Engineering Day blog.
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Exhibit at the UK's definitive and most influential 3D printing and additive manufacturing event, TCT 3Sixty.
Then it was back to main stage where a huge crowd formed to hear about the next step in designing in virtual reality. There are multiple benefits to designing in VR whether it’s providing an immersive experience for customers or allowing designers to visualise products in their natural environments without a single tool being put to hand. All complex stuff, which showed how multiple Autodesk products can be used together to get people working in VR and, I’ll be honest, I was amazed by the kinds of things that are already possible.
Day two was largely about generative design for me, but I started the day at the opening keynote by Scott Reese, Head of Product Development, who spoke about the “velocity” at which Autodesk is introducing new products and updates to enable designers to get their ideas made. He used the example of the BAC's (Briggs Automotive Company) car which was parked outside the venue, brought to life by a team of just 12 people using the many facets of Autodesk Fusion 360. The product’s director, Stephen Hooper said Fusion “will allow you to make more informed decisions earlier in the process”.
BAC car parked outside Autodesk AU.
I also went along to a talk by Andrew Harris, Design Consultant at Autodesk, which explained the workflow that goes into making a generatively designed part. Using the example of a seat bracket made with a combination of generative design, 3D printing and casting (read Sam Davies’ feature in the latest issue of TCT Europe), and an automotive component manufactured with metal 3D printing, it showed the kinds of organic forms that can currently only be produced with Autodesk technology. The talk also invited what has to be the most audience questions I’ve ever seen at an event like this with engineers fascinated by the huge weight savings and design variations.
More on generative, I attended an informative roundtable discussion from Greg Fallon and Ben Schwauren which looked at how generative design fits into the additive manufacturing vision. Using a useful analogy of the development of Google Maps, Greg explained how generative design “allows engineers to see ideas that aren’t obvious.” You can read more on this in an upcoming post. I also saw a talk from Tom Wujec on the steps needed to change our way of thinking and power the "future of making", all from an upcoming book of the same title and accompanying workshop initiative.
There were so many classes, certification workshops and talks covering everything from BIM to VR that I struggled just to get around the additive stuff alone. The Autodesk Gallery installation in the exhibit hall was a big highlight, demonstrating all of the different areas that AM plays into such as the MX3D Amsterdam bridge and the RAMLAB hybrid ship propeller. And special mention must be given to the free flowing Pimm’s that topped off a scorching first day and the ever so slightly hipster, pulled pork sausage rolls for lunch.
Overall it’s been a hugely valuable event with plenty of ideas to process and lots to look forward to in future in terms of new product launches and updates to Autodesk’s portfolio. Here’s to next year’s AU London – I wouldn't even mind if it rained.
